Hello Bruce
by Reizo Myu
Summary: A twist off of Batman Beyond, Nolanverse! Enjoy and R/R please!


A/N: oneshot strictly. I took my inspiration from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. The scene where the Joker reveals he knows his identity. Batman's point of view. Little Nolan-verse twist. I won't put in the part where he dies because I refuse to kill my Joker and I don't think he died anyways. He was buried aliove and somehow escaped. He did NOT die. Like Heath Ledger.

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Arkham, shut down for so long, of course he would make his appearance in this place. I knew I should have never taken a new Robin. But the others had persuaded me. A song echoed around the hallways, scratchy due to the outdated intercom, and I had a feeling I knew where they were. At least where she was.

"And if that diamond ring turns brass…" she stopped singing and gave a laugh. Pressing a small, nearly invisible button on my wrist, I saw green lights pop up in front of my eyes. A map of Arkham. Projection room, that was what I was looking for.

I turned right at the next hallway, seeing the small red dot that indicated where I was moved rapidly across the screen as I got faster. I heard another laugh pulse with Harley's. A laugh that haunted me more than the bats lately.

I didn't have time for the old lock. A batrang took car of that.

I burst through the doors in time for the next verse.

"And if that billy goat don't pull, momma's gonna buy you a cart and bull!" she cackled and turned around, spinning the chair to see me. No surprise was in her eyes, only laughter and twisted reasoning. Whatever had her in his arms, it bright in her eyes. The small girl with blonde pigtails gave him a nasty smirk under her greasepaint.

"Ey! B-man is here! Now the party can really start. We picked out a movie." She said, bouncing slightly. Her curls flopped as she did so.

"Where's Robin, Harley?" I asked. Her eyes widened, seeming to convey confusion. I saw a hidden laugh in them though. She was laughing at me.

"Puddin' the guest is here." she said and, before I could reach to grab her, she flipped out the small window above the auditorium. I heard film start rolling. Then, a slideshow appeared on the screen. The first thing I saw was that garish grin, carved into his face at silence laughter. Wherever he was, somehow he was the one on the intercom now.

"I see you got the invitation. Good. Well, as Harley has obviously not told you, there's no Robin here." he said, pausing to laugh. He had influenced his Harlequin well and, as I solemnly look out the window, I actually saw her popping popcorn into her mouth, perched on top of a broken, decaying seat.

Then my attention was on the screen. Robin chained to a table… jumper cables… a generator.

What had that maniac done to him?

"You see, all it takes is one little push to get a child tell all his little secrets. And soon, very soon, he began to share secrets with me. Oh you would have admired his bravery at first. And he fought well. But youth have their ways of caving some time or another. Three weeks wasn't much but, I worked with it.

"Where is he Joker?" I demanded, knowing he could hear me. He could always hear me.

"The secrets though! I would have had no idea…" he said, his voice taunting me. I froze. The truth, the triumph, the greatly superior tone made me sick. The dizzying realization hit me harder than I could imagine and I could pay little attention to my disgust. He knew something…

"It's true, he's told me everything. The Batcave, even your friends like Lucius Fox." he said, giggling. He knew about Lucius and where my safe haven was.

The video playing before me was horrendous. Robin, knives piercing his skin and pinning him to the wooden table. I couldn't hear his screams but his face made everything clear. He was in such pain. It was my fault.

My fault.

Tim. Not Robin. His mask torn off, his clothes being removed so he could be burned. I winced, uncharacteristic for the Bat, when I saw Harley come on screen, waving and oddly dressed as a housewife. She attached cables to chains then to the generator. Tim Drake, screaming. I knew I saw his lips cry out with the movement of my name.

"But, if you want my opinion, it's a bit anti-climactic. After all this time my best guesses were a corrupt cop or some goody-two shoes lawyer who took refuge in an office and had money buy their suit and power." he giggled again and something caught my eye. A wire.

My eyes, then my feet, followed it across the room, on the floor, and to a small closet door. I heard his voice closer now.

"And all this time you were right under my nose."

I swung open the closet door, saw his eyes flash in joy and victory as he stared at me. My eyes blazed in fury, my mouth set in a scowl. Then I froze at his next words.

It never occurred to me he had been talking about that secret.

"Hello… _Bruce."_


End file.
